Friday, March 3, 2017

I woke/got up at 8am.  It’s obvious we got some rain overnight.  It’s an overcast day.

MT still hasn’t gotten her Social Security deposited into her Bancolombia account so I sent another email to Social Security.  You just get an automated reply that an answer will be coming within 15 days. 

I watched 45 minutes of the Today show waiting for the ladies to leave for the gym.  There I signed a document for MT and we were all admitted by fingerprint.  The ladies went upstairs and I stayed downstairs learning some new machines and repeating some I had previously used.  Jose was there; he’s real funny; and he says I’m funny!  Jason (actually spelled Jeison) was there and seemed to be keeping an eye on me; maybe he just wants to practice his English.  I left after putting in my hour.

I stopped at the newsstand and bought today’s Q’hubo newspaper which has the Condorito comic book inside that Chuck wants me to buy for him each week.

Among new US movie releases there isn’t anything I want to see.  Locally, Santafe and Oviedo haven’t listed their movies for today.

Teresa told me she talked to one of the trainers at the gym and he said he could work with her for 150,000 pesos 5 times a week and in 4 months she would have a new beautiful body.  I told her, because we’ve had some unusual additional expenses this month, we’d better wait until April to start.  I also told her after I finish my Fritos, salted-in-the-shell peanuts, and English toffee I’m going to work on losing my paunch.

I’ve decided, since I have a new debit card with a chip, to reinvestigate all the ATMs to see which work for me and what their limits and fees are.

I left the apt at 2:30 and quickly caught a bus in downtown Envigado.  I got off at Calle 7 and walked up to Clinica Medellin where I used their Servibanca ATM to withdraw their maximum of 780,000 pesos.  (In the past I’ve been fortunate to usually receive all small bills.)  This time again didn’t disappoint as I got 2 10s and all the rest were 20s.

I walked down to Mail Box Etc. where I picked up my package and paid an additional 6,650 pesos (about $2.30) for their shipping.  I walked outside and quickly caught an Envigado bus.  Remember me mentioning street people performing for change?  This time I saw a guy sitting on a bench playing a harp!  The bus crawled through the Gold Mile traffic and I finally got off at Oviedo.  I retraced the road a block and crossed the street to Starbucks. 

I was in line behind a guy about 6’3”.  When it was my turn I ordered a large vanilla latte for 8,400 (about $3) and a blueberry muffin for 7,100 (about $2.50).  I asked the order taker, who spoke a little English, what the temperature is of the coffee and he said 147 degrees Fahrenheit.  In the future I’ll try to remember to order 160 degrees.

While waiting to pick up my order a few other coffees arrived.  When I heard something like “champion” I knew it was for the guy ahead of me.  He was still standing close to the ordering line and I told the server (barrister?) that it belonged to the guy in the green t-shirt.  I put my fingers together and whistled and he turned around and I motioned him to pick up his coffee.  He told me his name is Stein, he’s from Denmark and he’s been living here for the last year and a half.

I sat down at the only available space (out of the sun) at the long laptop table.  While reading my Nook and enjoying my muffin and latte I noticed a lot of attractive Colombianas traipsing through.

When I finished I opened the box and found, not the red umbrella I ordered, but a black one.  I checked the box and was surprised to see, beside the MBE address, the address of my apt back in Laureles and my old cell phone number.  I’m beginning to think this was the 1^st umbrella I ordered that didn’t have my MBE code on it.

I broke the box down and threw it and the packing material away.

After the obligatory trip to the restroom I walked across the street and quickly caught a bus back to Envigado.  I was a little surprised when, close to downtown Envigado, the driver turned and headed southeast down some diagonal.  Then I realized I was on an Envigado bus not a Sabaneta bus.  I let him go a few blocks since I would have to walk both south and east to get to $efecty.  I got off and I was walking down one of those crazy diagonal streets.  I was walking down noting the side streets, Calle 33, Calle 34, Calle 34A, Calle 34B, Calle 34C, Calle 34D, Calle 34DD, and finally I got to Calle 36.  After about 10 blocks I finally arrived at $efecty where I paid the utility bill of 115,850 (about $40).

I stopped at the corner store for a bottle of Coke and was back at the apt by 5:15.

I dashed off an email to MBE asking why my umbrella is black instead of red.

My expert level chess friend Ruben in Hawaii told me that the 1^st game I played against Dario was of the strength of a Class A player.  (I used to be a Class C player but my latest tournament play has been even weaker so that comment was encouraging.)

I checked the local theaters again and I’d like to see Split (7.6) but it’s only playing in the evenings.  I’ll try to remember to check again after the weekend.

T-shirt of the day: Do I get bonus points if I act like I care?